Sister Joan Chittister famously said, "We are each called to go through life reclaiming the planet an inch at a time until the Garden of Eden grows green again." Reflecting on that journey -- a blog at a time -- is the focus of this site.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

What happens when you get on my last gay nerve

So it's been a tough week. I had to deal with getting through Louise's birthday for the first time without Louise during an exceptionally busy week at work in the pressure-cooker of an election campaign where everytime you think they can't POSSIBLY sink any lower they do -- and someone like Richard Mourdock (of "God intends the pregnancy of a woman impregnated by her rapist" fame) steps up and says something so heinously horrible that it cries out for a response -- which of course I did. If you missed it, it's here.

So the post got one comment. From someone who goes by "LG" -- an episodic commenter on this blog whose comments are often so polemic that they end up in the little blogger trash can. But it's been a tough week. And my last gay nerve was gotten upon. And so I decided to post her comment. And then I decided to respond to her comment. And THEN I decided to elevate the whole enchilada from a comment thread to a blog post.

So here you go: [a] what it takes to get on my last gay nerve ... LG's comment:

He said, that the child is a blessing from God. (not the rape-- obviously.)Rape (of men or women) is a horrible crime of violence, punishable by many years in prison.

Of Women who are rape victims, less than 2-3% become pregnant. Of those that become pregnant by a Rapist, 15-25% choose to abort the baby. However, in the general population of women, unplanned pregnancies are aborted at 50+%.

I wonder why this is? Do you think its because, they don't want a 2nd act of violence against their own body? The vast majority of rape victims choose to raise their own child. Of the women that do abort the rapist's child, a percentage of them, regret their decision

... and [b] what it looks like when it happens! (my response)

LG ... as you have no doubt noticed I delete more of your comments than I post up.

I am making an exception today in the hopes of using your unrepentant ignorance as a teachable moment. I will use very short words in very clear sentences. Please try to follow along:

Richard Mourdock said a pregnancy resulting from a rape was "what God intended."

Not only does Mr. Mourdock presume to know the mind of God -- he will presume to use the power of his office -- if elected -- to inflict his understanding of what God intends on a woman pregnant as the result of a rape by taking away her right to choose whether to continue or to end the pregnancy.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to research your statistics because they are utterly irrelevant to the case in point.

Whatever percentage of women choose to do what -- and for whatever reason -- when faced with a pregnancy resulting from rape IT IS THEIR CHOICE.

Let me repeat that part.
Listen carefully:
IT. IS. THEIR. CHOICE.

Not yours
Not Mr. Mourdock's
Not Congress
Not the White House.

The woman
Who was raped
And is pregnant.

It is HER choice.

You can have any opinion on that choice you choose to have just as you can have any opinion on what God intends about just about everything.

What you cannot have is permission to write your opinion -- your theology -- into our Constitution.

And neither can Mr. Mourdock.

And THAT ... my unrepentantly ignorant friend ... is precisely the point which you persistently insist on remaining ignorant about.

I've been thinking a lot about this whole Richard Mourdock thing, because (a) I'm originally from Indiana and one or both of my parents could very well vote for this guy, and (b) because my ex-wife's sister once got pregnant from a rape and chose to keep her baby. She has a 22-year-old son now that she loves very much - but as you say, keeping him was her choice.

Bringing a child into the world under normal circumstances is a big enough commitment already. Doing it with the emotional trauma of surviving rape piled on top makes it even harder. Anybody who takes it on must do it of their own free will, or it's not going to work. Government should never be allowed to force that on anyone.

Pregnancy for some women, about 1 in 3 according to my doctor, is a very difficult 9 months. Although I carried two children who were the result of a loving relationship, I had a very difficult time with each one. I can't imagine going through what I did if the pregnancy had been the result of rape.

Susan:you know what really...........pisses me off? is that these men even presume to inflict their ignorance... ahem, i mean opinions of a victim of rape. the original assault wasn't enough?

and as to his pie-in-the-sky statistics about rape victims, proceeding to delivery and raising the child, did he ever consider that poverty and the shame of being violated by a family member or family friend might influence there decision?

watching asshats like this opinionate is only another reason i give heartfelt thanks for being born gay. i, like you, ask questions first and listen to the answers: part of the gift of being one of God's LGBT blessed.

Note to LG: Like I said ... time to move on. This is not the place to play the "I have sole possession of the Absolute Biblical Truth so the facts don't matter" game. You might try getting your own blog. Easy to set up and free.

Thank you.Here are the statistics.Statistics are not always consistent and vary from one site to another and from year to year. Some sites say 1% and others say 2%, which in numbers is 13,000 (specifically stated on one site) to 24,000 per year.

Here is another important one.31 states give the rapist/father parental Rights to a child born of rape. So the women even if she chooses to raise her 'gift from God'(I can't even believe that in this day and age that is even being said!, she has to have contact with her rapist and share that wonderful experience for 18 years of more.

I am sick to death of discussing this. This issue should be over. It is nothing more then oppression to force a women to endure a pregnancy she does not want especially from a rape.Keep your religious believe out of my government.I am a former Catholic. I am am also a woman who has lost a child.

And I'd also like to hear from the republicans how they will pay for all those babies and children that will be put up for adoption from all the unwanted pregnancies.Especially since they don't want to pay for the ones being born now.

Brava. Before Roe v Wade was decided the issue was left up to the states. A few states (not many) legalized abortion on demand. What is less well known is that before roe v Wade many states even if they did not permit abortion generally allowed abortion in cases of rape, incest, health of the mother, fetal deformity, etc, (including many conservative states like MS). So what we are dealing with here is not only an attempt to turn the clock back before roe, but to go back even further, even more whacko than what Mississippi permitted by law prior to 1973. That is how fanatical these folks are. Mississippi in the 1960's was too liberal.

Welcome to my blog ...

... where I try to be really clear about what I'm clear about. For example:

Religious persecution is when you're prevented from exercising your beliefs, not when you're prevented from IMPOSING your beliefs.

========

Until we end the blatant and indefensible discrimination of DOMA we are not living up to the pledge we make to be a nation of liberty and justice for all, we are not providing the equal protection guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to same-sex couples and we are failing to defend the self-evident truth that our forbearers fought to protect: that ALL people are created equal.

============ Using "biblical standards" to condemn those who understand that sexual orientation is morally neutral makes as much sense as using "biblical standards" to condemn astronomers who understand that the earth revolves around the sun. The Bible may have said it but that doesn't always settle it. ============ It's liberty and justice for all -- not some. It's respect the dignity of every human being -- not just straight ones. Got it? Great. Let's do it.

====== In order to keep moving forward toward liberty and justice for all we can't just be right about what the 1st Amendment protects. We have to be smart about how we respond to those who skipped the 9th Commandment and think lying is a Traditional Family Value. ======= Jesus said "Love your neighbor." Not "Love your neighbor unless your neighbor is gay."

Basic Bio

A cradle Episcopalian second generation Dodger fan ENFJ native of Los Angeles I was ordained in 1996 and currently serve as a Senior Associate at All Saints Church, Pasadena.
My family consists of my wife Lori, 2 dogs, (Hillary & Chelsea), 3 cats (Maui, Cherokee and Harold) and our four young adult kids: Jim (married to the awesome Kelly), Brian, Grace and Emily.
My life in the church has included everything from Junior Altar Guild with my Aunt Gretchen to my “obligatory young adult lapsed phase” to a tour of duty on the St. Paul’s, Ventura vestry where I also worked as parish secretary to a life-heart-soul changing experience as part of the Cursillo community to serving on my parish ECW Board to seminary at the School of Theology in Claremont to associate/day school chaplain positions at St. Mark’s, Altadena and St. Peter’s, San Pedro to Executive Director of Claiming the Blessing to my current parish position at All Saints Church. It’s been a long and winding road and the journey continues: an inch at a time.

Bottom Line:

A Comment On Comments

Strongly held perspectives are appreciated. Ad hominem attacks will be deleted. When in doubt, revisit page 305 of the BCP and if what you're typing doesn't meet the "respect the dignity" clause of the Baptismal Covenant then save us both some time and energy and don't hit "send."

DISCLAIMER

This blog is the personal weblog of one Susan Lynn Russell. The opinions expressed herein are hers and hers alone. The postions taken on matters theological or political (or anything else, for that matter) are in no way to be construed as the official positions of any other person, institution, group or organization.

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